


Don't Let Me Go

by VforVitaly



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-05
Updated: 2013-06-05
Packaged: 2017-12-14 02:05:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/831465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VforVitaly/pseuds/VforVitaly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stiles gets shot with arrows meant for Derek, Stiles fights for his life, while Derek struggles with the possibility of having to let go of the man he loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Let Me Go

            Derek doesn’t see the arrow until it is too close to Stiles to stop it. Stiles lets out a strangled cry as it pierces his chest, and stumbles back. Derek sees it in time to rush forwards and catch Stiles before he hits the ground, but not in time to stop the second arrow that catches the 19 year old in the stomach.

            The hunter’s, realizing their mistake quickly, that they have shot a human, turn and run from the scene, leaving Derek on the forest floor, holding Stiles in his arms, not sure of what to do. If he takes the arrows out, Stiles isn’t going to heal the way the rest of the pack would, in fact, he’ll probably bleed out.

            Stiles doesn’t look good, and Derek doesn’t know what he was supposed to do. He contemplates giving Stiles the bite, but again and again, Stiles has said that he doesn’t want it, and even in this moment of panic, where Derek was holding someone who is quite clearly dying in front of him, he can’t go against those wishes. He can’t be selfish and make that choice for him.

            “Stay with me,” he growls, making it more of a command than anything else. He takes Stiles to the car and lays him in the backseat before rushing him to the hospital, gripping the steering wheel tight the whole way, neurotically checking to make sure that Stiles, arrows still sticking out of his body, is still breathing. When he gets to the emergency room, he carries him in, screaming, shouting at the top of his lungs for someone to help him, and when they do, he lies and says that he’s Stiles’ cousin, because he can’t leave the young man by himself, not like this.

            Not when he’s dying.

            He runs to the room with them, watches them remove the arrows and try to stop the bleeding, but it’s not good, and even watch from outside the room, he can tell that they’re losing him.

            Derek’s heart is racing, as Stiles’ is slowing down, and he reaches up, one hand pressed to the operating room window, as though by reaching out, he can help take some of the pain away, though he knows that there has to be hand-to-skin contact for that to work.

            _This can’t be happening,_ Derek thinks, watching as the doctors, surgeons, work quickly, trying to save the life that is slipping away so quickly. Derek knows this is his fault. He was the one that asked Stiles to take a walk for him in the woods, he was the one that suggested they spend some alone time together, and while deep down, he knows that Stiles wanted that time with him just as much as Derek did, it’s easier, in this moment, to take full blame for what’s happening to the man that he loves.

            Stiles stayed in Beacon Hills for Derek. He got in to so many colleges, but when Derek asked him to stay, Stiles stayed, and now this is happening, and Derek can’t help but blame himself for every little part of what is currently happening. A year. They’ve had a little over a year together, and Derek thought that nothing in the world would be worth trading for that year, but as he watches Stiles dying on that operating table, he knows now, that he’d give that year up, give all that time up, if he could save Stiles’ life. He knows, though, that that’s not how it works, and that no matter how hard he wishes it were, there’s nothing he can do.

            “We’re losing him!” One of the doctor’s calls, and Derek’s chest tightens, because he knows what’s coming, he can see the line getting closer and closer to flat with every breath Stiles doesn’t take, and Derek knows that what the doctor says is true, that they’re loving him. That _Derek_ is losing him.

            The line goes flat, and while everyone runs around, trying to resuscitate him, Derek stands there, choked up, but unable to cry, because he still can’t believe just yet that that heart, that good, pure, kind, gentle heart, has stopped beating.

*

            “Stiles?”

            Stiles opens his eyes and looks up, sitting up the second he does, eyes wide.

            “Mom?”

            “Hi, honey.” His mother smiles down at him, and she looks just the way he remembers her.

            “Mom, I’ve missed you so much!” He reaches out, and hugs her, and it feels…odd. “What are you doing here? Is it…” he bites his lip, looking down, realizing that while some form of him is sitting up, his body is still on the operating table, people hustling and bustling, trying to figure out how to save him. “I’m dying, no, I’m not…I’m dead.”

            The realization that washes over his face is sobering, and he’s not sure how to feel. He’s with his mother again, something he’s wanted since she died, to see her again, but it’s mixed, because if he’s dead, he’s not going to see anyone else that he cares about again for what he hopes will be a very long time, because the next time he sees them, they’ll be dead too.

            “I’m afraid so,” she says with a nod.

            “Am I…am I supposed to come with you, or…” he looks around, shifting, not really sure what’s going on. The doctors are still trying to save him, but he feels it’s no use.

            “No.” She shakes her head.

            “But…” Stiles gulps. If he has to be dead, can’t he at least be with his mother.

            “It’s not your time, Stiles,” she says softly, reaching out and touching his cheek. “You have more to do.”

            “What do you mean?” He asks, trying to read the answers in her expression, but it’s been a long time since he’s seen her, and he’s out of practice.

            “I’m sending you back, sweetie,” she whispers, turning and gesturing up to the operating room window, where Derek can’t hold back anymore, a single tear streaming down his cheek. “There are others who need you more than I do.”

            “Derek?” Stiles gulps.

            “Derek, Scott…” she pauses. “You’re father. You’re not done making the world better yet, Stiles. I’ve been watching you, and what you do for others, it’s incredible. I’m not here to take you away.”

            “Alright.” Stiles gulps again, tears welling in his eyes, just as they are in his mother’s, which is weird, because he’s sort of assumed that angels don’t cry. “I love you, mom,” he says, hugging her tightly, because he knows if she’s sending him back, he’s not going to see her again for awhile.

            “I love you too.” She returns the hug. “And Stiles, I’m so proud of you, you and your father both.”

            “We miss you so much,” Stiles whispers, his tone now choked with sobs.

            “I know, and I miss you too, but I’m always watching, sweetie, and I always will be.”

            With that, she reaches out and puts her hand on his chest in another goodbye, but this time, it’s known that it’s not a final goodbye, because they _will_ see each other again, just hopefully, not for a very long time.

*

            “He’s back!” The doctors look around, clearly in disbelief, because they’re all sure that they’d lost him, but now his pulse is rising, his vitals are stabilizing, and it looks like he’s pretty much out of danger, when only moments ago, they were ready to call time of death.

            Derek’s body feels like it’s going to give out on him as he watches the sight below. Stiles is alive. His vitals are on the up and up, and he watches as they finish patching him up.

            Relief doesn’t even begin to cover what he feels as they finish the process, wheeling him back to his room. Derek follows, and he hears the doctor telling the Sheriff that it was rocky, but Stiles is expected to make a full recovery.

            That night, both Derek and Sheriff Stilinski sleep in the hospital, in uncomfortable plastic chairs, next to Stiles’ bed. They take turns being awake, because neither of them wants him to be alone when he wakes up, and it’s Derek who’s on watch when Stiles finally opens his eyes.

            “Stiles.” Derek rushes to the bed, grabbing his hand instantly, looking down at him. “Baby, thank god…wait, you’re…” he notices almost instantly that, though Stiles has only just woken up, he’s crying. His eyes are tearing up, and there’s no mistaking it. “You’re crying,” he says softly.

            “I…I…” Stiles gulps, feeling his chest tightening. “I saw my mom. She was there, she told me it wasn’t my time, that there’s more I’m supposed to do, that she’s…she’s watching over me, Derek.”

            “Oh my god.” That’s when Derek realizes that the tears are tears of relief, more than anything else, and he gently pulls Stiles close to him. “Baby, that’s amazing.”      

            “I know.” Stiles nods. “And Derek, if my mom’s up there, watching over me…” he pauses, moving, looking up at his boyfriend. “That means your family’s up there too, Derek. Your parents, your sister…”

            Derek freezes, because even as Stiles was talking about his mother, he didn’t think about that, and he wonders how, at a time like this, Stiles is thinking like that about Derek. He almost died, and yet here he is, reassuring Derek that his family is up there, looking down on him, and it’s just another reminder of why Derek loves Stiles.

            “You’re amazing,” Derek whispers, leaning down, kissing Stiles, but softly, because he really, really doesn’t want to hurt them. “I thought I’d lost you, I was so scared, I…”

            “It doesn’t matter.” Stiles shakes his head, and he reaches up, putting his hand on Derek’s cheek. “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere, and if I do…” he pauses to lean in and kiss Derek. “I promise I’ll always watch over you.”


End file.
